ICM Challenge - April 2023 - Sky. Charlotte Bellamy Photography

Welcome to the fourth of the 2023 ICM challenge publications. After last year’s massive success, I have decided to organise once again, an annual ICM challenge for my creative group.

I created this ICM challenge, to offer a friendly competition within the creative group I run for all previous course attendees and mentee students. It is to encourage interaction in the group and to offer a reason to share or make photos in reaction to a prompt. Each month in 2023, a new challenge subject will be set in the group. It may be interpreted however an individual wishes, but the ICM technique must be the overriding element in the image. I have chosen an outside judge for each challenge to offer a wide variety of feedback and varying outlooks on ICM photography.

This is a cumulative competition:

• Points 1- 10 are awarded for the top 10 placings each challenge. (1st place gaining 10 and 10th place 1)

• A point is awarded to every entrant to say thank you for submitting. In December there will be an online awards evening, with some small prizes, and to celebrate everyone’s achievements.

Sky

The Sky challenge is now complete. Once again, I was delighted with the number of individuals submitting to the challenge. Congratulations and a massive thank you to all who submitted and got involved. It is amazing to see so many different ways of interpreting a trigger word – It was a tricky one to interpret as to whether to include a ground element or not, but as you will see there was a wonderful selection.

This challenge the entries were judged by Kim Grant. I had been following Kim’s work for quite some time, before being lucky enough to meet her in person last autumn during the creative Light retreat in Scotland. Kim has a wonderful story to tell, of how she got into vlogging and sharing her voice and her photographic knowledge Recently Kim invited me to join her for her new podcast, as part of a new community she has established, encouraging connections between nature, self and others through the art of photography

Here is the link to the podcast episode I joined Kim for https://www.photographicconnections.com/podcast

Kim has a super website https://visualisingscotland.co.uk/

Her Photographic connections website https://www.photographicconnections.com/

Her YouTube channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/c/VisualisingScotland

If you are interested in online or in person courses, please check out my website for more info www.charlottebellamy.com

I also have a You tube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CharlotteBellamycreativephotography/videos

Please email with any questions or comments Charlotte@charlottebellamy.com

Copyright remains with each of the photographers, please do not save in anyway the images from this document.

Without further ado – I would like to introduce you to your winners. Congratulations to the top 10.

Judge’s comments

Winner – Miriam Manners

I've chosen this as my favourite because there is so much to look at in this image! The texture is also so beautiful and very unique. This along with it being a panoramic ratio, made it stand out from the rest. I could look at this image for hours! It makes me feel very relaxed.

Runner up – Camilla Rutayisire Gore

Judges comment

This is my runner up image because the fiery colours really made the image stand out. I also loved how you can tell where this image was taken, with some detail remaining in the buildings. I felt like I was there but also in a dream world when I looked at this photo.

Annabel Foot

Judges comment

This image claimed the 3rd place because this image resembled a painting. It looks like a piece of art that took days to create.

Joy Tracey

Christine Griffiths 7th

Angie Robertson

8th Place

9th Place

Federica Morgan

Colin Smith

Lorraine Grey

The other entries

Michelle Jackson

Reiner Heisel

Charles Thorne

Mandy Fraser

Birgitta larsson

Barbara McKenzie

Marion Woodman

Maureen Stuart

Amber Burton

Jaana Kotoneva

Mary Seddon

Valerie Huggins

Malcolm Brown

Charlie’s picks

This year I am going to pick a selection of images out of the challenge after the judging is complete

so these images will never be the same as the top 10. I just wanted to have the opportunity to recognise even more of the beautiful images. There is not a set number each month, so some months you may see more in this section than others, especially if I agree with the judge on all their choices! These images all achieve a bonus 2 points.

Just to say this challenge was insanely difficult to pick my extras as every single one in the challenge hit the brief of ‘bleak or wild’ beautifully. So, these that I have chosen this challenge for me gave me the greatest feeling of wild or bleak.

This month’s images are:

Steve Knight

I just love this image – not least because I am just back from Norfolk and having seen the windmills in the landscape, I just love how this was captured. The ICM movement is super, holding detail in the windmill and trees, and adding an almost mystical feel to the sky.

I love the way the light and colours play in this image of the sky. The hint of a horizon and the hills add to a beautiful feel, created with lovely gentle ICM technique.

Sue Woodbridge

This is a super ‘sky ’ ICM. I love the colour palette of almost monotone orange – the way the mountains seem to join the clouds, and the reflection of light in the sea – super.

Dawn Westwood

Moy Calverley

A clever use of movement in the ICM to transpose the horizon in this image – I love the way the colours, light and lines play in this image.